“Really? Why don’t you enlighten me then? Please, tell me who I am.”
The waitress came back with our food. She set our plates before us and walked away, but not before winking at Oliver, who grinned back.
Jerk.
“Fine. You’re a little miss spoiled, probably a total daddy’s girl who’s never been told no in her entire life. You started dating the popular jock in high school, skipped out on college because you were so in love, then you had your ass handed to you the second you were in the real world. You moved in with this boyfriend, expecting him to give you the dream life you’d always wanted, only to find out that he was never going to amount to shit. Still, you’re too hardheaded to admit when you’re wrong, so you stayed with him and put up with all of the shit he brings to your life, only to walk in and find him cheating. In a fit of rage, you take off in his car, which was probably the only reason he was consideredcoolin high school to begin with. How’d I do?”
“Way off.” My cheeks heated at his words.
“Yeah, I bet,” he said, sarcastically, reaching for the bottle of hot sauce.
“Seriously. You only got one thing right.” I sat forward.
He didn’t bother looking at me as he said, “Yeah, what’s that?”
“I was a daddy’s girl. I mean, until he passed away last year.” I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned back in the booth, my throat tight.
He stopped pouring the hot sauce on his omelette as guilt settled over him. His shoulders fell, and he took a deep breath before looking over at me.
“I’m sorry. I’m just in a shitty mood. That accident back there really fucked me over. I’m starving, tired, and my head is fucking pounding. I shouldn’t take it out on you. It’s not entirely your fault.”
I didn’t know why, but his words made me feel a little better. I let my arms fall to my sides, and I leaned forward again.
“Look, let’s just stop fighting and eat. Then we can move down the road and find a place to crash for the night. Not next door.”
His green eyes sparkled a little as they narrowed. “You’re really staying with me?”
“Where else am I supposed to go? I have no one. The only thing I had to get out of here and start a new life with is now busted on the side of the road. So, yeah. I’m sticking with you until we’re out of this mess and I can get back to starting my new life.”
He rolled his eyes. “But we can’t stay in the motel next door?”
“No, that is way too close for comfort. I’ll never get any sleep. I’ll be worried about waking up to the police banging on the door.”
I could tell that I was getting on his nerves, as he massaged his temples. “Fine. We’ll eat, take a hike, and find a place to crash a few counties away. Deal?”
“Deal,” I agreed, and that’s exactly what we did.
We both ate and cleared our plates before I dropped cash on the table to cover the meal. Then we walked out of the diner together. The rain had finally come to an end, but it didn’t help with the temperature at all. It was dark, cold, and windy. Even though it was only fifty degrees, being wet and in the wind made it feel like it was below freezing.
A few times on our hike, I heard Oliver start to grumble under his breath about how we were walking in the middle of nowhere instead of warm and fast asleep in the motel that was right next to the diner, but every time I looked at him, he shut up and kept moving.
It felt like we walked for hours. My feet hurt, especially since I’d worked a full shift at the bar before all this happened. My body was cold and numb, my nose was running, and my throat hurt from the cold air, but eventually we came upon what lookedlike an old farm truck parked across the street from a small-town tavern. The parking lot was full, and you could see movement behind the frosted glass, lit by neon.
“That’s it,” Oliver said.
“What’s it?”
“This truck. We’re taking it.” He started moving closer to it.
“What do you mean,takingit?”
“We’re stealing it. Keep a lookout.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out his knife.
“We can’t steal someone’s truck,” I whisper-yelled, my heart pounding.
He looked at me like he didn’t care what I had to say. “Why? You stole the last car you wrecked. Why can’t we steal this one?”
“That was different. That was my cheating boyfriend who had it coming. This truck probably belongs to some old guy who doesn’t deserve to have it stolen.”
